7 Super Bowl thoughts

A quick run through an entertaining Super Bowl XLV, won by Green Bay over Pittsburgh, 31-25:

1) I'm happiest for former Panther coach Dom Capers, who finally got a Super Bowl ring as Green Bay's defensive coordinator. Capers' defense wasn't perfect, but it intercepted Big Ben a couple of times and didn't allow him to get his final two-minute drive even to midfield before giving up the ball on downs.

2) Aaron Rodgers is something, isn't he? The Green Bay QB had 300 yards passing even though receiver Jordy Nelson dropped at least three passes Rodgers threw him (and, to be fair, caught a bunch of them, too). Rodgers had to carry the offense and he did.

3) Weird to see Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy basically abandon the run even though his team never trailed, calling close to four times as many pass plays as run plays. It's the sort of thing that Bill Belichick does occasionally with Tom Brady, and makes all the sense in the world when you have an elite QB and your running game is sporadic.

4) My favorite Super Bowl commercials? The one for Doritos when the slacker guy brings both a fish and a grandfather back to life with sprinklings of the chips, and the one for the VW Passat in which the kid with the Darth Vader costume tries to use his "powers" on the car.

5) Could Steelers safety Troy Polamalu have been worse? The only big hit I remember him making was after Green Bay scored a TD. And he got beat late by Greg Jennings for another TD. Too bad we can't have a re-vote on NFL Defensive Player of the Year, because after seeing that, Green Bay's Clay Matthews should have gotten that honor.

6) Did you see Roger Staubach (my childhood sports hero, incidentally) have to run that gantlet of Packers with the Vince Lombardi trophy in his hands postgame on the way to the presentation? Good thing his nickname was the "Dodger" -- some of those Packers were pretty aggressive.

7) All in all, that was a fun Super Bowl, although it won't be remembered as an incredible one since there wasn't a single lead change.
Still, it reminds us all how good the NFL is as a spectator sport -- and how much it will be missed if the stubborn players and stubborn owners can't divvy up the billions of dollars available here and get a season played in 2011. I don't want this Super Bowl to be the last NFL game you or I see for two years -- and there's no way it should be.

5 notes about Heat-Bobcats

5 quick notes about Charlotte's 109-97 home loss to the Heat Friday night, which I attended along with an announced sellout crowd of 19,592 (here's my column on it):

1) Dwyane Wade's triple-double was the first one he had in five years (since Jan.13, 2006, to be exact). He and LeBron James have never had dual triple-doubles in their time together in Miami, but came close (LeBron had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists).
LeBron, who piles up triple-doubles routinely, thinks they are a great stat. Wade, who never gets them "because he shoots too much," as LeBron joshed, thinks they are very overrated.

2) Charlotte really played pretty darn well for 3 quarters. Gerald Wallace's play was particularly heartening -- he has disappeared far too often over the past month.

3) The "Poetry Corner" bit on the big monitors with Derrick Brown is hilarious. With a fake pipe and smoking jacket, Brown seriously reads the lyrics to a rap song and then lets fans try to guess which one it is. May not sound that funny, but Brown really pulls it off.

4) The Bobcats were really trying to move some tickets for tonight's Dallas game and Monday night's Boston game. They must have run a "two tickets for $30" promo at least 5 times on the scoreboard.

5) Gerald Henderson is really getting better (he was 6-for-10 and scored 14 Friday and played some good defense). But you don't want him shooting three-pointers.

Strange timing for Larry Drew

The news that UNC point guard Larry Drew is leaving the team and planning on transferring to another school comes as quite a shock. The No.23 Tar Heels are playing their best sustained basketball in the past two years -- their 32-point win over Boston College this week was the sort of whipping UNC really hasn't laid on people since the Hansbrough-Ellington-Lawson-Green quartet left with a national title in 2009.

The timing for this seems very strange to me. Yes, Drew had finally lost his starting job -- and rightfully so -- to Kendall Marshall. But he was still playing a lot as a reserve, and seemingly playing better without the pressure of starting (he had won the Tar Heels' "Defensive Player of the Game" award in two of the past four games). Drew was becoming a fine relief pitcher for the Tar Heels and still was a valuable part of the team.

Was Drew that upset? Does he -- and his NBA alum father -- have an inflated sense of his own skills (I'd vote yes on this one)? Did he not see the film from the Tar Heels' 17-loss season of 2009-10, when they so frequently struggled as he led the offense? Reading the official press release doesn't really answer those questions.

And why not stick around with the Tar Heels until this season ends? This really sticks it to his teammates, for Drew will get to another program no faster if he went ahead and played these last 6-8 weeks with UNC than if he simply left now. He could transfer in the summer of 2010 or now and he's still not playing at any Division I-A school until the fall of 2012.

I was talking to a couple of pretty well-known former UNC basketball players not long ago whose names I won't mention. They thought that the Tar Heels' biggest problem for most of the past year-and-a-half was Drew -- that he was such a big step down from point guards Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton. They blamed both Drew for his play and also coach Roy Williams for wanting Drew that much in the recruiting process and entrusting him with such a big role (rather than finding a point guard who could run his system better).

Drew has his limitations and Williams stuck with him too long as a starter. He was no Felton or Lawson. Then again, he was no Adam Boone, either. The guy can pass and he can drive -- he just wasn't much of a finisher or a shooter. The Tar Heels will miss him the rest of this season -- Marshall will now have to shoulder a huge load. (The media will miss him, too -- Drew was known as one of the best "quotes" in the UNC locker room).

-- One unrelated note: for those of you who have asked about my Super Bowl pick, I made it the day after the NFC and AFC title games and won't change it now... Pittsburgh, 20-16.

No.1 Clowney down to USC, Clemson, Alabama

Jadeveon Clowney came into ESPNU's studios in Charlotte this afternoon, where I'm camped out for the day. Clowney -- the No.1 overall prospect in America and a defensive end from Rock Hill South Pointe -- did an interview with ESPNU and then with me later in which he said he had narrowed his choices to Clemson, South Carolina and Alabama.

That means North Carolina is out. Clowney said it was "too late" for the Tar Heels to get back into his recruitment, although he doesn't plan to announce his decision until his 18th birthday on Feb.14th.

Clowney said his visit to Clemson went very well last weekend, which is why the Tigers made the final three. Most people think he will end up at USC or Alabama, but he says he still doesn't know. In the meantime, he says he might take a visit to Florida State this weekend (the Seminoles have the No.1 recruiting class of 2011 according to ESPNU rankings).

Clowney is on the cover of ESPN The Magazine and his cell phone bill has reached $400-$500 per month because of all the recruiting-based calls. "My mom is pretty upset about that," he said, smiling. "But she paid it."

Clemson having quite a day

I'm at ESPNU studios in Charlotte, where recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill just moved the Clemson Tigers into his Top 10 nationally. Clemson just got another big-time commitment on National Signing Day, as Anson Senior linebacker Stephone Anthony just picked Clemson over North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Anthony's commitment pushed Clemson past LSU to No.10 in Luginbill's rankings. The only other ACC school in the Top 10? Florida State, which is No.1 overall. Texas is No.2.

Anthony is projected as an outside linebacker. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney now has had two big-time commitments on Signing Day on ESPNU. Inside linebacker Tony Steward (the No.9 prospect overall; Anthony is 32) was the first.

Clemson gets No.1 ILB Steward

I'm at ESPNU studios in Charlotte today, monitoring 10 straight hours of "National Signing Day" for a behind-the-scenes column for Thursday's newspaper. We're about 90 minutes in and one of the first surprises has gone in Clemson's favor.

Tony Steward, ranked by ESPNU as the No.9 overall player in America and the No.1 inside linebacker, picked Clemson over Florida State and UCLA. Steward announced his decision at his high school on live TV, and ESPNU's announcers have been calling it a "shocker" ever since. It prompted Urban Meyer -- the former Florida coach who's here today working for ESPNU -- to tell a story about a time he once thought he had another talented Florida player lined up only to lose him to Clemson.

That player? C.J. Spiller. Meyer still seemed a little sad about it.

Super Bowl for recruiting junkies

If you’re a college football recruiting junkie, the Super Bowl comes four days early this week. Wednesday is signing day, meaning that the best high-school football talent in America is going to be divvied up.

Monitoring the pulse of this strange and newsy day will be ESPNU. The cable channel concentrates on college sports, is based in Charlotte and beams out to 73 million homes.

“This is truly our Super Bowl,” said Shawn Murphy, who will be the coordinating producer for 10 straight hours of ESPNU coverage of signing day Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. “In terms of what we do in Charlotte at ESPNU, it doesn’t get any bigger.”

Sounds pretty cool, right? I’ll know for sure by Wednesday night, as I’ll be following ESPNU’s coverage from its studio for a behind-the-scenes column that will appear in Thursday’s Charlotte Observer and online. I will also be blogging regularly today as signing news breaks, so check out this same blog for that.

ESPNU’s coverage will include former head coaches Urban Meyer (Florida) and Randy Shannon (Miami) in the studio. Eight of the top 100 players in America who have yet to make their college decision are scheduled to announce their choices live on the show.

The biggest prize of all – Rock Hill South Pointe defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the No.1 prospect in the country – is also scheduled to appear on ESPNU at around 4 p.m. but not to announce his decision. Clowney has indicated he will make up his mind later this month.

ESPNU also plans to interview more than 20 major-college coaches live during its coverage – some live on camera and some by phone. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier is tentatively scheduled for 3:10 p.m. and North Carolina’s Butch Davis at 4:18 p.m.

Things always change on live television, of course – especially when you’re planning a 10-hour TV show. So watch for my blogs Wednesday and my column Thursday to see how, exactly, ESPNU tries to pull off this mammoth undertaking.

P.S. -- On another note, my column for Wednesday's newspaper is on the state of Charlotte 49ers basketball, based in part on interviews with coach Alan Major and athletic director Judy Rose. Watch for that.